Wall box structure



June 5, 1956 D. c. ROCKOLA WALL BOX STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 17, 1951 I IN VEN TOR. David 6. Hod 02a BY MW, flm g Q'iiorrzegys June 5, 1956 D. c. ROCKOLA 2,748,973

WALL BOX STRUCTURE Filed March 17, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

David C. Eockola diiorrze ys United States Patent WALL BOX STRUCTURE David C. Rockola, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Rock-Ola Manufacturing Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Application March 17, 1951, Serial No. 216,152 3 Claims. (Cl. 220-18) This invention relates generally to coin control mechanism and more particularly to improvements in wall box structures for selectively controlling operation of remotely located phonographs, or the like.

A principal object of the invention is to facilitate authorized removal and replacement of a cover portion of such a wall box or casing to provide ready access to its interior for coin collection, changing of .record identification tabs, or other services, while positively preventing unauthorized access to, or tampering with, the interior of the box or the mechanisms therein contained.

Another important object is to facilitate :removal of a standard mechanism for detecting spurious coins or slug rejectorfrom such a wall box for cleaning or other servicing, and to prevent replacement of the removed cover portion, after return of the slug rejector, unless the latter is properly positioned in the box.

Such'objects are attained in the illustrated embodiment of the invention by making the wall box in two separable parts comprising a backing member adapted to be secured to a wall, or other supporting structure, and a cover portion or front member having interengageable locking portions at their lower edges to prevent downward or forward movement of the cover relative to the backing member, and other interengagable locking portions adjacent the top to prevent upward or forward .is properly positioned in its support.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent as it is better understood from the following description, which, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferred embodiment thereof. in the drawings,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a wall box embodying the features of the instant invention, with parts broken away to show some of the structural details;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, as seen from the left side of Fig. l, with the upper portion of the box in vertical sec tion to show the lock and the slug rejector engaging member carried by the cover portion;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the box of Fig. 1, with parts thereof in horizontal section to show the interengageable locking portions of the cover and backing'members; and 7 Fig. 4 is a rear elevational view of the cover member removed from the backing member.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, reference numeral 11 indicates in generala-wall box structure em- .bodyingthe features of the instant invention which comprises a backing member 12 and a cover member 13 Patented June 5, 1956 ice attachable thereto, a rear view of the latter separated from the backing member being shown in Fig. 4. The backing member 12 generally is in the form of a flat plate having marginal flanges 14 formed integrally therewith and extending forwardly from the top and side edges thereof (Figs. 1, 2 and 3). The upper one of these marginal flanges 14 is shaped to provide a pair of laterally opposed undercut portions 15 (Fig. l), and the backing member 12 has a bottom plate 16 (Fig. 3) extending forwardly therefrom. At each of its lower corners, the backing member 12 also is provided with a laterally ofiset and forwardly extending lug 17. As best seen in Figs. 2 and 3, the central portion of each of these lugs 17 is reduced in cross section outwardly of the associated side fiange 14 to provide a horizontally disposed slot terminating at its, rear end in a downwardly extending recess 18. The bottom plate 16 is provided along each of its lateral edges with an upstanding marginal flange 19.

As shown in Figs 2 and 3, the backing member 12 is provided with a slug rejector supporting structure comprising a pair of laterally spaced hangers or forwardly extending flanges 21 formed integrally therewith and a transverse plate 22 secured in any suitable manner to the forward ends of these flanges. The upper surface of each or" these forwardly extending flanges 21 is provided with a transverse slot 23 adapted to receive a pin 24 extending laterally from a standard slug rejector 25 comprising any well-known mechanism for detecting spurious coins deposited therein and separating the same from the genuine coins deposited. The upper edge of the plate 22 terminates in a horizontally and forwardly extending flange which is disposed slightly above the upper surfaces of the hangers or flanges 21 (Fig. 2), and this plate 22 also has an L-shaped slot 26 for receiving a locking element mounted on the cover member 13, in

a manner to be later described.

The cover member 13 comprises a front panel 27, a top panel 28 and side panels 29, with the rear portions of these top and side panels 28, 29 comprising marginal flanges adapted to slidably engage the outer surfaces of the associated marginal flanges 14 of the backing member '12. It will be understood that the general shape or design of the members 12 and 13 constitutes no part of the instant invention and will be determined for any given unit or wall box structure by the dimensions of the control mechanisms to be housed therein and normal design practices. in the instant embodiment of the invention, the upper end of the cover member 13 is shaped to accommodate a coin slot 31 (Figs. 1 and 3) and a coin return button 32 adapted to cooperate with the slug .rejector .25 to scavenge the same in'well-known manner.

it should be pointed out, incidentally, that the left side panel 29 of cover member 13 is provided with a suitable coin return aperture 33 through which scavenged coins may be removed from the wall box. Also, the

:front panel 27 is provided with a plurality of apertures 34 to accommodate the several selector buttons normally employed in such coin control mechanism, as well as glass covered apertures 35 for giving visual access to program indicia 36 associated with the selector buttons. As shown in Fig. 4, a program indicia holder, indicated generally by reference numeral 37', is mounted 'in any suitable manner on the rear of the front panel 27 .to

facilitate selective changing of the indicia 36 when the cover member 13 is removed from the backing member 12.

The top panel 23 of the cover member is provided with a pair of inwardly extending lugs 33 for slidably engaging the undercut portions 15 of the upper marginalfla'nge .14 of the backing member 12. As best seen :in Figs.

2 and 3, the side panels or marginal flanges 29 of the cover member are shaped at their lower rear corners to accommodate the reduced portions of the lugs 17 and terminate in depending portions 39 adapted to be seated in the recesses 13. The front panel 27 terminates at its lower end in a rearwardly extending horizontal flange 41, and is provided with a pair of integrally formed protuberances 42 spaced laterally from each other and also spaced above the flange 41 for a slightly greater distance than the thickness of the bottom plate 16 of the backing member 12. As shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, each of these protuberances 42 comprises a truncated cone. The top panel 23 of the cover member also has a depending rib 43 which preferably is formed integrally therewith and is so dimensioned as to just clear the upper flanged edge of the plate 22 when the the wall box structure is in assembled position. The top panel 28 also is provided with the locking element previously mentioned which comprises a key-operable lock 44 mounted in well-known manner thereon, extending therethrough and provided with a. horizontally disposed locking portion 45 terminating at its rear end in an upwardly extending flange.

The backing member 12 is adapted to be mounted upon a wall, bracket, or any other desired supporting structure, by means of suitable apertures (not shown) extending through the main portion thereof. After this backing member has been so mounted, the necessary electrical connections to the automatic phonograph or other apparatus with which this unit is to be employed as a coin control mechanism readily may be eflected. In this respect, it should be noted that the various instrumentalities controlled by the deposited coins and the selector buttons have not been illustrated in order to more clearly disclose the structural details of the instant wall box, with the exception of the slug rejector 25 which cooperates with the cover member 13 in a manner to be described in detail hereafter. However, all of these various mechanisms, including slug rejector 25, are supported on and by the backing member 12. With the cover member 13 removed, it is a simple matter to remove the slug rejector 25 for cleaning, repair or replacement and to insert the same in its supporting structure, which comprises the hangers or forwardly extending flanges 21 and the transverse plate 22, the slug rejector being provided with trunnion pins 24 which are adapted to be received by the slots 23.

After installing the backing member 12, or at any time that it is desired to replace the cover member 13 following removal thereof, it is necessary only first to engage the lower portion of the cover member with the backing member 12 by moving the cover member rearwardly to engage the forward portion of the bottom plate 16 of the backing member between the lower flange 41 and the protuberances 42 of the cover member, and thereafter to slide the cover member rearwardly relative to the backing member and slightly depress the rear of the cover member. which will engage the depending corner portions 39 in the recesses 18 at the rear of the interlocking lugs 17 of the backing member 12. At the same time, such final downward and subsequent rearward movement of the upper end of the cover member relative to the backing member will result in the rear ends of the inwardly extending lugs 38 engaging their respective undercut portions 15 of the backing member flanges 14, and such mounting of the cover member will be permitted and facilitated by the diverging relationship between the lower surfaces of the protuberances 42 and the horizontal flange 41 on the cover member. When so mounted, the depending portions 39 and the side panels 29 of the cover member 13 cooperate with the lugs 17 of the backing member 12 to function as interengageable locking portions which prevent downward and forward movement of the cover member 13 relative to the Wmlhumhm it. w. i

backing member 12. Also, the inwardly extending lugs 38 at the upper end of the cover member cooperate with their associated undercut portions 15 of the marginal flange 14 of the backing member as interengageable locking portions to prevent upward movement of the cover member 13 relative to the backing member 12. Thereafter, the lock 44 may be key-actuated from its inoperative position of Fig. 4 to its operative position of Figs. 2 and 3, whereby the upturned flange on the inner end of the locking portion 45 will pass rearwardly through the vertical portion at the left of the L-shaped slot 26 in the transverse plate 22 to engage the rear surface of this plate 22 directly above the horizontal portion of the slot 26, as best seen in Fig. 2. In such operative position, the lock 44, 45 cooperates with the plate 22, which comprises a part of the slug rejector supporting structure, to prevent forward movement of the upper portion of the cover member 13 relative to the backing member 12. It will be understood, of course, that the members 12 and 13 are so dimensioned that the marginal flanges of the cover member, comprising the rear portions of the top panel 28 and the side panels 29, will slidably engage and completely enclose the marginal flanges 14 and 19 of the backing member 12, and the bottom flange 41 of the cover will undcrlap the bottom plate 16 of the backing member. And it will be appreciated that the cover member 13, when so mounted on the backing member 12, cannot be removed therefrom to give access to the mechanisms mounted on the backing member without first unlocking the lock 44, 45.

Authorized removal of the cover member 13, however, is an extremely simple procedure, requiring only the unlocking of the lock 44, 45, followed by forward tilting of the upper end of the cover member to clear the rear ends of the lugs 38 from the undercut portions 15 and lifting and forward sliding of the lower portion of the cover member to disengage the depending corners 39 from the lugs 17 and the flange 41 and protuberances 42 from the forward edge of the bottom plate 16 of the backing memher.

If the slug rejcctor 25 has not been properly positioned in its supporting means in the manner best illustrated in Fig. 2, the upper end thereof will be disposed above the upper edge of the transverse plate 22. Consequently, when the slug rejector 25 is so improperly placed in its supporting structure, it will be engaged by the rib 43 to prevent the above-described positioning of the cover member 13 on the backing member 12. In other words, the rib 43 is so dimensioned that the slug rejector 25 must be properly disposed in its supporting structure in order for the cover member to be mounted upon the backing member. This is of particular importance because it is essential to proper operation of such coin control mechanisms or slug rejectors that they be disposed in a properly vertically aligned position. Unless the rib 43 of the cover member can be brought down substantially into engagement with the upper flanged edge of the plate 22, as shown in Fig. 2, the upturned end of the locking portion 45 of the lock 44 will be engaged by the forward face of the plate 22 and be prevented from passing through the vertical portion of the L- shaped slot 26. When the cover member is properly mounted on the backing member, as shown in Fig. 2, that portion of the plate 22 directly above the horizontal part of the L-shaped slot 26 functions as a locking flange for engagement by the inner upturned end of the locking element 45.

It is thought that the invention and its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described and illustrated in the drawings being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. A wall box structure, comprising a backing member adapted to be mounted on a supporting device and having marginal flanges comprising laterally opposed undercut portions at its upper end and forwardly extending lugs at its lower corners ofiset laterally therefrom with downwardly extending recesses at their rear ends, a cover member attachable to said backing member having marginal flanges for slidably engaging the outer surfaces of said flanges of the backing member, including depending portions engageable with said lugs and in said recesses to prevent downward and forward movement of the lower portion of the cover member relative to the backing member, and inwardly extending lugs engageable with said undercut portions to prevent upward movement of the cover member relative to the backing member, and a key-operable lock mounted on the upper portion of said cover member and engageable with said backing member to prevent forward movement of the upper portion of the cover member relative to the backing member.

2. A Wall box structure according to claim 1, comprising a slug rejector supporting structure mounted on said backing member, and rib mounted interiorly of said cover member for engaging a slug rejector improperly positioned in said supporting structure to prevent engagement of said lock with said backing member.

3. A wall box structure according to claim 2, wherein said slug rejector supporting structure is provided with a flange engageable by said lock, when a slug rejector is properly mounted in said supporting structure to clear said rib, to effect attachment of the cover member to the backing member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,026,649 Beshore May 21, 1912 1,685,276 Doerr Sept. 25, 1928 1,698,252 Ashe Jan. 8, 1929 1,888,927 Lang Nov. 22, 1932 2,286,544 Henry June 16, 1942 2,340,478 Lannerd Feb. 1, 1944 

